Spring always came late and struggled to arrive in the Scottish Highlands. March winds still carried a chill, but the ice and snow had quietly melted away. The ice on the Black Lake cracked apart, revealing the bottomless, inky-blue water beneath. The ground around the castle turned muddy, and the air was filled with the scent of damp earth and new grass.
As the seasons changed, classes at Hogwarts entered a more demanding phase as well. Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration began to cover more complex biological transformations, while Professor Flitwick's Charms introduced foundational summoning spells that required precise emotional control. The mounting academic pressure temporarily drew most students' attention away from gossip and disputes. Even the Marauders' pranks seemed to have become somewhat restrained.
Yet for Lin Yanqing and Snape, beneath this surface calm lay the new challenges and adjustments brought by the deepening connection of their bond.
Lin Yanqing threaded the cold black pebble onto a cord and wore it close to his body. It seemed to be more than a token; it was more like a miniature signal amplifier. Whenever Lin Yanqing held it while meditating or practicing Legilimency, he could sense the magical flow of the contractual bond more clearly and control his own emotions with greater precision.
Snape was clearly conducting similar explorations on his end. Lin Yanqing could sense that the emotions Snape sent over were no longer a chaotic blur, but had become more structured. When he was studying a complicated potion problem, what came through was pure concentration stripped of personal likes and dislikes. When facing Slughorn's excessive enthusiasm or the subtle exclusion of certain Slytherin students, however, it was a cold signal that had been highly compressed and processed.
He was learning to use this channel, maximizing its utility while minimizing emotional interference.
This change produced unexpected results during practical lessons.
In one Care of Magical Creatures class, taught by an optimistic but somewhat careless professor who frequently caused small mishaps, they had to learn how to safely approach and feed a prickly magical creature called a Porcupine. When one Porcupine was startled by a clumsy Hufflepuff student and suddenly charged madly toward the crowd, chaos broke out.
Just as the furious Porcupine was about to slam into a petrified first-year, Lin Yanqing and Snape, standing some distance apart, moved almost simultaneously.
There was no exchange of glances, no verbal communication.
Through the contract, Lin Yanqing clearly received an extremely swift and precise prediction of Snape's intended position and action—he planned to use a clever Levitation Charm to alter the Porcupine's charging path and guide it toward an empty patch of ground.
At almost the exact same instant, inspiration struck Lin Yanqing. He raised his wand, not to directly assist Snape, but to cast a tiny Lubrication Charm on a patch of slick moss in front of the Porcupine.
Wingardium Leviosa! Snape's spell came later but struck first, hitting the charging Porcupine with precision.
Sliiide— Lin Yanqing's Lubrication Charm took effect almost at the same time.
The Porcupine, slightly lifted by the Levitation Charm, stepped directly onto the now incredibly slippery moss. Its momentum instantly shifted, and like a round, spiky ball, it spun sideways into an unoccupied thicket. It crashed in amid a burst of rustling, then failed to crawl back out for quite some time.
The crisis was over.
The entire coordination had flowed seamlessly and happened in the blink of an eye. By the time most of the students and the professor reacted, all that remained was the Porcupine grunting miserably in the bushes and that unusually slippery patch of moss on the ground.
The professor in charge wiped away a cold sweat and shouted in praise, "Merlin's beard! Splendid silent coordination! Mr. Snape, Mr. Lin! Quick reactions, proper handling! Twenty points each to Slytherin and Ravenclaw!"
This time, Snape did not immediately look away or show any discomfort. He stood where he was and met Lin Yanqing's gaze across the distance. His eyes still held little warmth, but there was less scrutiny in them, and several degrees more of something akin to the... confirmation an engineer felt upon seeing a precision instrument operate perfectly as designed.
He was confirming the effectiveness of this contract-based tactical coordination between them.
After this incident, a new pattern of interaction emerged between them. In certain nonurgent situations requiring concentration, Snape would occasionally and very briefly send fragmented thoughts about potion steps or spell principles through the contract. This was not full thought-sharing, but more like... a validating question. He was using Lin Yanqing as an objective sounding board, one free of House prejudice, to test some of his own deductions or flashes of inspiration.
Based on his own knowledge and understanding, Lin Yanqing would send back a brief confirmation, addition, or question. The entire process was silent and took place at the surface of their consciousness, like two researchers separated by laboratory glass, communicating efficiently through simple gestures and glances.
Working side by side on the level of thought brought them closer than any exchange of supplies or shared enemy ever could. It was built upon mutual recognition of ability and a cold, pure rationality, avoiding the emotional territory Snape resisted most.
However, springtime at Hogwarts was never short of disturbances.
One weekend near the end of March, the weather finally cleared. Many students came out onto the castle grounds to stroll or sit beside the lake in the sun. Lin Yanqing chose a relatively quiet grassy slope near the greenhouses and opened an advanced translation of Ancient Runes.
He could sense that Snape was nearby as well—probably beneath the shade of trees near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, seemingly processing some magical materials that required a quiet environment.
Just then, a familiar burst of malicious, teasing noise drew closer.
It was James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew trailing behind them. They clearly had not noticed Snape beneath the trees. Their target appeared to be an older couple dating by the lake, and they were preparing for one of their customary prank patrols.
Lin Yanqing's heart tightened slightly. Through the contract, he could feel Snape's working state abruptly interrupted, replaced by intense vigilance and cold irritation. He had clearly spotted the Marauders as well and immediately assumed a defensive posture.
James and the others soon noticed Snape beneath the trees. An unpleasant smile, the kind one wore upon spotting prey, immediately appeared on James's face.
"Hey, look who it is? Our lonely Potions Prince," James called loudly, trying to attract the attention of others nearby. "What sinister little thing are you tinkering with all by yourself this time?"
Snape did not respond. He did not even lift his head, merely quickening his handling of the materials in an attempt to finish and leave before they came closer.
But Sirius Black's gaze passed over Snape and landed on Lin Yanqing farther away on the grassy slope. His gray eyes narrowed, and a playful curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. He nudged James with his elbow and murmured something.
James followed his gaze. A flash of surprise crossed his face, followed by an even more malicious grin.
"Hey, Black, you're right," James said more loudly, deliberately making sure both directions could hear him. "Looks like our Potions Prince isn't alone today? Is he having some kind of... secret cross-House rendezvous?"
The implication in his words was far more blatant and vicious than the earlier rumors.
Snape's hands abruptly froze over the materials. Lin Yanqing could feel a cold presence, almost tangible, mixed with immense humiliation and fury, surge from the other end of the contract like a shockwave. Snape clenched the materials tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white.
This time, the insult was aimed directly at the bond between them, a connection that could not be defiled and that he had only just begun to accept in a limited way.
Lin Yanqing closed his book and slowly rose to his feet.
He knew the peaceful spring day was over. A new, more direct storm was about to arrive.
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